


Eloise

by fits_in_frames



Category: Lost
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-12
Updated: 2010-04-12
Packaged: 2018-01-20 12:06:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1509857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fits_in_frames/pseuds/fits_in_frames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He looks Richard directly in the eye and says, pointedly: "I know about Eloise."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eloise

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers through "Ab Aeterno".

Some time before the DHARMA people showed up, Richard discovered there's two ways to see Jacob: be summoned, or wait. Tonight, sitting cross-legged in the sand, he's waiting. He watches the sky go from blue to purple, then purple to pink; and just as he's about to leave, someone emerges, silhouetted against the pale dawn light. He walks purposefully towards Richard, not fearing the rising tide nearly at their feet.

"You've been out here all night," Jacob says, still a distance away.

"You noticed," he says, a little breathlessly, voice cracking.

"Of course."

Richard's eyes flick up, just for a moment, and Jacob is smiling knowingly. He opens his mouth to say something, then decides against it, taking only a sighing breath before looking back at the swelling ocean.

"I know why you're here," Jacob says, standing at Richard's side. He places a hand on Richard's shoulder, and Richard looks up into his face, just as youthful as the day they met. "You did the right thing, with the Linus boy," he says. "Exactly what I wanted you to do."

Richard feels his mouth trying to twitch into a smile, but he doesn't let it. "Thank you," he says instead, and moves to get up. Jacob barely pushes on his shoulder, forcing him to kneel awkwardly back down, and sits next to him.

"I'm glad you're here, I was going to, ah--summon you on another matter," Jacob explains, drawing his knees up to his chest, brushing his hands off.

Richard can only nod with his mouth half-open, half in surprise, half in apprehension.

He looks Richard directly in the eye and says, pointedly: "I know about Eloise."

Richard almost chokes on his own breath. Before he can speak, Jacob continues, ticking off his next three statements on his fingers.

"I know that she's pregnant, I know that it's Widmore's baby, and I know you wish it was yours."

Richard narrows his eyes in disbelief. "How do you--?"

"Doesn't matter," Jacob answers shortly, "only that I do." He looks out at the ocean and goes on, in a much gentler tone. "I know what it's like--to love someone and lose them, and that first person you fall in love with again--it's like you're betraying your wife."

"Don't talk about my wife," Richard says in a rare moment of defiance, barely unclenching his teeth when he speaks.

Jacob nods. "Of course, I'm sorry." He touches Richard lightly on his arm, and Richard turns to him. "All I'm saying is, it was only a matter of time. I took your _mortality_ , not your humanity, not your instincts or your drives. You know that I know that."

Richard presses his tongue to the roof of his mouth, nodding as he remembers those times inside Jacob's dwelling ( _one hand full of half-finished tapestry, the other grabbing at linen, knees slightly bent to brace himself against the stone wall_ ).

"It's easy to fall in love with power," Jacob muses distantly, "especially when power looks like her." He pauses for a split second, gathers himself (allowing Richard to do the same), and continues. "Regardless, I only bring it up because I think it will make the task I have for you much easier."

"What task?" Richard asks, as if it's the first time Jacob has ever asked anything of him.

"I need you to get her away from this island--as far away as possible--and tell her she can never come back."

Richard blinks, confused, and almost scoffs. "Why would I do that? And--how do my feelings for her make this easier?"

"Because if you don't," Jacob says calmly without looking at him, "she's going to die."

"What?" Richard asks, stupidly, because he doesn't know how else to respond.

Jacob turns to him. "Because if you don't do this, Ricardus--if you don't get the woman you love off this island before she gives birth--both she and her unborn son are going to die." He grabs Richard's arm to get his full attention. "And the only way she's going to leave is if I banish her. So I don't care how you do it, my friend, but I need you to take her far, far away from here. Can you do that?" He squints his eyes at the early morning sun, but Richard is too taken aback to notice the light.

He feels a momentary swell in his chest, and says, almost without thinking, "She's having a son?"

"Yes," Jacob says, slightly exasperated now. "Will you do this?"

Richard sighs, defeated. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"You _always_ have a choice," Jacob says, tightening his fingers around Richard's arm a little.

Richard just bows his head, obediently.

"Good," Jacob says, and touches his other hand to the side of Richard's face. "Thank you," he says; then kisses his other cheek and whispers against it: "I'm sorry." He breaks away, stands up, brushing the sand off his clothes. Richard stays kneeling at his feet. "If you need me after she's gone," he says before he turns to go, "you know where to find me."

Richard nods, head still bowed, and when he looks up, Jacob is gone, along with his footprints, and the impression he left in the sand when he sat. He looks to the horizon, still faintly white and orange, and through the lump in his throat, curses himself for staying up all night on the beach, only to miss the sunrise.


End file.
